Frozen In Time
by Daisyline
Summary: What if Anna never unfroze? How would things be different? Elsa's distance from reality furthers the more time she spends out of it. But with Kristoff by her side, will she be able to keep her grip or will she be lost in the deep end forever? A One shot full of feels and Kristelsa.


"Anna!" She screamed over the noises around her. The buzzing in her ears became louder as the sword smashed through her sister. Hans looked down at the shattered shards in disbelief before Elsa freezed him with ice out of rage and desperation. She looked around. There was nothing left of her sister, even before, at least she wasn't completely dead, but now, there wasn't anything left. There wasnt anything left in this world that would bring her back.

Elsa broke down, tears forming and shedding as they ran down her delicate face in streams.

She sat there for hours, nothing else on her mind, as the winds around her slowed and Kristoff watched from a distance. He hadn't said anything let alone moved a step away from the position.

He watched as Elsa managed to fall asleep, restlessness showed vaguely, but the winds calmed and Kristoff took her inside.

It had been a couple of months since Elsa returned to Arendelle as a rightful queen. She had unfrozen the kingdom, but unfortunately, her sister had never been unfrozen.

At least, that's what everyone else saw.

Kristoff watched the young queen day after day as she interacted with thin air for hours, talking to something which she referred to as 'Anna'.

Of course he knew Anna wasn't really there, but she didn't.

Everyone missed Anna. Sven, Olaf, Kristoff did especially, but none could come close to or even imagine the pain which Elsa would find herself in, which was exactly why Kristoff didn't dare to tell her the truth.

But with each day passing, Elsa seemed to get closer to the edge.

He could see that part of her knew what it was she had done, but the rest of her refused to believe it and instead conjured up a false image of her sister.

"Elsa," Kristoff said to her one day, after returning from a rather lonely walk. She faced him, a smile on her face. A genuine smile, which was something he'd never seen on the queen's face.

"What is it, Kristoff?" she asked softly. "Anna and I were about to build a snowman."

"Is that right?" Kristoff chuckled softly, averting his gaze and rubbing the back of his neck. "Well…uh…Elsa…

Elsa cocked her head slightly, staring at the man intently.

"Well…you two better go make that snowman. I'm just going to go take a walk with Sven."

With that, he hurried off, leaving Elsa alone.

He didn't feel that it was the time to tell her.

Some time passed. Summer turned to autumn and autumn turned to winter.

Elsa had started to lose her grip on reality completely, not that it came as a shock to Kristoff, but it hurt.

Each day, after arriving at the palace, Elsa would keep speaking about Anna as if she were really there. Telling the girl that she loved her, hugging air, running around as if someone was chasing her.

But if he was going to be honest with himself, he really wanted Elsa to stop running around and spend time with him. But, of course, he wouldn't try to make her. She was trying to spend time with her sister.

But he knew that he had grown to love her.

And day after day he'd watch her run around and giggle and laugh.

One snowy afternoon, he decided to venture out and join Elsa.

"Elsa!" he called, throwing a snowball at the queen. She stopped running around and stared at Kristoff, her face blank at first, but quickly brightening with happiness.

"Do you wanna play?" he asked, clearing his throat nervously.

"Sure."

So the two played in the snow for hours. But then, when they were finished, Elsa seemed to disappear again all over again as she begun to talk to Anna.

And of course, Kristoff wanted to tell her the truth.

Elsa was spending less and less time in reality and it was hurting him more than either of them seemed to realize.

"Anna," Elsa giggled. "Why didn't you play in the snow with us?"

Kristoff heard no reply, but Elsa apparently did.

Without warning to Elsa, or to himself, Kristoff grabbed Elsa's shoulders, spinning her around to face him.

"Elsa, I'm-I-"

He kissed her quickly, not wanting to say anything stupid, but by then he hoped he wouldn't regret his actions.

A moment passed and there was no response from Elsa.

After another moment, Elsa managed to shove Kristoff away. He looked into her icy eyes and saw something he hadn't seen in a while- Elsa's true emotions. Her anger soon shifted to hurt and sadness.

She fell into Kristoff's arms, sobs wracking her body.

"Anna, where is she, Kristoff?" the queen asked between sobs.

"She's not okay…is she?"

"No…"

It felt as if Elsa had managed to return to reality, but Kristoff didn't like what had hidden behind the false one. For the first time, he saw the unbearable pain in Elsa's eyes, the tears threatened to spill over.

Almost as quickly as she had returned, the queen's false reality pulled her back. The pain seemed to leave immediately and she seemed completely unfazed - as if nothing had happened, though there was a hint of regret in her voice as she spoke to Anna. And there was something else too.

Distance, maybe. Iciness. Sorrow. Maybe even pain.

Either way, she definitely wasn't the person she had been before Krostoff kissed her.

It was then Kristoff realized that he had the power to being the queen back to her reality. The painful reality that she had caused.

As much as it pained him to do so, he knew he had to try to make it permanent.

Another kiss just meant another couple of minutes of painful reality for Elsa. And it hurt Kristoff to see the person he loved in so much pain, but he knew that each time it was getting longer. Each kiss meant Elsa spent more time out of her safe place, which meant one step closer to fixing her.

"Kristoff…" Elsa started one evening.

"Yeah?"

"Anna's gone because of me, isn't she?"

"Uhh…I guess so…"

He didn't know what else to say.

Elsa sighed. "Why do you stay here with me, knowing that I could hurt you too?"

He paused for a moment, thinking carefully of his answer.

"Because, I love you."

"What?" Elsa looked at Kristoff, genuinely confused and shocked.

Kristoff grinned and looked at Elsa. "I said, because I love you."

"You love me?"

"Yes."

Kristoff could tell that Elsa didn't know how to respond. He could also see her struggling with something.

She was silent for a moment but then shook her head. "No," she whispered. "I don't want to leave again. I don't like seeing things. I don't like seeing Anna, it hurts too much."

"I don't want you to go either."

"Then help me."

Kristoff didn't know how to help her, beyond another kiss. So that's what he did.

And this kiss was the first time Elsa responded. She pulled him closer. Kristoff started to smile when they separated, but the smile didn't stay long when he noticed Elsa crying softly.

"Please…don't let me leave again."

"I won't."

And that was a promise he kept for as long as he lived.


End file.
